Law vs. Policy — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Urooj Arif — Updated on April 16, 2024
Law is a system of rules enforceable by governmental institutions, focusing on legality and structure; policy refers to guidelines or strategies adopted by organizations to direct decisions, prioritizing flexibility and intent.
Difference Between Law and Policy
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Law consists of rules established by a government and backed by the enforcement power of the state, designed to regulate human behavior. Policy, on the other hand, typically consists of guidelines or procedures set by organizations (either public or private) to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes.
While laws are formally written and must be adhered to under threat of sanction, policies can be more flexible, serving as frameworks within which organizations operate and make decisions.
Laws are passed by legislative bodies and interpreted by courts, making them compulsory. Policies, whereas, are often developed by organizations themselves and can be adjusted or changed as circumstances require without legal proceedings.
In the realm of implementation, breaking a law can lead to legal penalties such as fines or imprisonment. Policies, on the other hand, usually result in administrative consequences such as disciplinary action within an organization if not followed.
Laws aim to maintain order, protect rights, and establish standards. Policies aim to achieve specific goals of an organization, such as improving efficiency, ensuring operational consistency, or addressing specific issues within the organization's purview.
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Comparison Chart
Nature
Legally binding
Advisory or guiding
Creation
Passed by legislative bodies
Developed by organizations
Enforcement
Enforced by the state
Implemented by organizational management
Consequences
Legal penalties (fines, imprisonment)
Administrative consequences (disciplinary actions)
Flexibility
Rigid and requires formal changes
Flexible and can be changed internally
Compare with Definitions
Law
A binding custom or practice of a community.
Local law prohibits selling alcohol after midnight.
Policy
A course or principle of action adopted by a business, government, or individual.
The company's privacy policy protects customer data.
Law
A rule enacted by legislature and enforceable by judicial institutions.
The law requires that all drivers stop at red lights.
Policy
Insurance contract specifying coverage terms.
She filed a claim under her homeowner's policy after the flood.
Law
The field of study concerned with the system of rules.
She went to university to study law.
Policy
Strategic plan to achieve a specific end.
The school's new policy aims to improve student engagement.
Law
The legal profession.
He has been practicing law for over thirty years.
Policy
A document detailing the aforementioned principles or actions.
Employees must read and understand the policy manual.
Law
A scientific principle that is consistently observed.
Newton's law of universal gravitation describes the attraction between bodies.
Policy
A position adopted in regard to political affairs.
The government's foreign policy focuses on strengthening alliances.
Law
Law is a system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and the art of justice.
Policy
Policy is a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented as a procedure or protocol.
Law
A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.
Policy
A course or principle of action adopted or proposed by an organization or individual
It is not company policy to dispense with our older workers
The government's controversial economic policies
Law
The body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political authority; a legal system
International law.
Policy
A contract of insurance
They took out a joint policy
Law
The condition of social order and justice created by adherence to such a system
A breakdown of law and civilized behavior.
Policy
An illegal lottery or numbers game
He swore that he had never played policy in his life
Law
A set of rules or principles dealing with a specific area of a legal system
Tax law.
Criminal law.
Policy
A plan or course of action, as of a government, political party, or business, intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters
American foreign policy.
The company's personnel policy.
Law
A statute, ordinance, or other rule enacted by a legislature.
Policy
A course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous
Honesty is the best policy.
Law
A judicially established legal requirement; a precedent.
Policy
Prudence, shrewdness, or sagacity in practical matters
It is never good policy to speak rashly.
Law
The system of judicial administration giving effect to the laws of a community
All citizens are equal before the law.
Policy
A written contract or certificate of insurance.
Law
Legal action or proceedings; litigation
Submit a dispute to law.
Policy
A numbers game.
Law
An impromptu or extralegal system of justice substituted for established judicial procedure
Frontier law.
Policy
A principle of behaviour, conduct etc. thought to be desirable or necessary, especially as formally expressed by a government or other authoritative body.
The Communist Party has a policy of returning power to the workers.
It's company policy that all mobile phones are forbidden in meetings.
Law
An agency or agent responsible for enforcing the law. Often used with the
"The law ... stormed out of the woods as the vessel was being relieved of her cargo" (Sid Moody).
Policy
Wise or advantageous conduct; prudence, formerly also with connotations of craftiness.
Law
(Informal) A police officer. Often used with the.
Policy
Specifically, political shrewdness or (formerly) cunning; statecraft.
Law
The science and study of law; jurisprudence.
Policy
The grounds of a large country house.
Law
Knowledge of law.
Policy
(obsolete) The art of governance; political science.
Law
The profession of an attorney.
Policy
(obsolete) A state; a polity.
Law
Something, such as an order or a dictum, having absolute or unquestioned authority
The commander's word was law.
Policy
(obsolete) A set political system; civil administration.
Law
A body of principles or precepts held to express the divine will, especially as revealed in the Bible.
Policy
(obsolete) A trick; a stratagem.
Law
The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Policy
(obsolete) Motive; object; inducement.
Law
A code of principles based on morality, conscience, or nature.
Policy
(law)
Law
A rule or custom generally established in a particular domain
The unwritten laws of good sportsmanship.
Policy
A contract of insurance.
Law
A way of life
The law of the jungle.
Policy
A document containing or certifying this contract.
Your insurance policy covers fire and theft only.
Law
A statement describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met
The law of gravity.
Policy
(obsolete) An illegal daily lottery in late nineteenth and early twentieth century USA on numbers drawn from a lottery wheel (no plural)
Law
A generalization based on consistent experience or results
The law of supply and demand.
Policy
A number pool lottery
Law
(Mathematics) A general principle or rule that is assumed or that has been proven to hold between expressions.
Policy
(transitive) To regulate by laws; to reduce to order.
Law
A principle of organization, procedure, or technique
The laws of grammar.
The laws of visual perspective.
Policy
Civil polity.
Law
(usually with "the") The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
The courts interpret the law but should not make it.
In theory, entrapment is against the law.
Policy
The settled method by which the government and affairs of a nation are, or may be, administered; a system of public or official administration, as designed to promote the external or internal prosperity of a state.
Law
The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
Property law
Commercial hunting and fishing law
Policy
The method by which any institution is administered; system of management; course.
Law
Common law, as contrasted with equity.
Policy
Management or administration based on temporal or material interest, rather than on principles of equity or honor; hence, worldly wisdom; dexterity of management; cunning; stratagem.
Law
A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
There is a law against importing wallabies.
A new law forbids driving on that road.
The court ruled that the executive order was not law and nullified it.
Policy
Prudence or wisdom in the management of public and private affairs; wisdom; sagacity; wit.
The very policy of a hostess, finding his purse so far above his clothes, did detect him.
Law
(more generally) A rule, such as:
Policy
Motive; object; inducement.
What policy have you to bestow a benefit where it is counted an injury?
Law
Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. mores.}}
"Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.
The law of self-preservation
Policy
A ticket or warrant for money in the public funds.
Law
A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
The laws of playwriting and poetry
Policy
The writing or instrument in which a contract of insurance is embodied; an instrument in writing containing the terms and conditions on which one party engages to indemnify another against loss arising from certain hazards, perils, or risks to which his person or property may be exposed. See Insurance.
Law
A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. theory.}}
The laws of thermodynamics
Newton's third law of motion states that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
This is one of several laws derived from his general theory expounded in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Policy
A method of gambling by betting as to what numbers will be drawn in a lottery; as, to play policy.
Law
A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation.
Policy
To regulate by laws; to reduce to order.
Law
Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
The law of scarcity
The law of supply and demand
Policy
A line of argument rationalizing the course of action of a government;
They debated the policy or impolicy of the proposed legislation
Law
(linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
Grimm's law
Dahl's law
Policy
A plan of action adopted by an individual or social group;
It was a policy of retribution
A politician keeps changing his policies
Law
(cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
Policy
Written contract or certificate of insurance;
You should have read the small print on your policy
Law
The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
They worked to maintain law and order.
It was a territory without law, marked by violence.
Law
(informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers).
Here comes the law — run!
Then the law arrived on the scene
Law
The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).
He is studying for a career in law.
She has practiced law in New York for twenty years.
Law
Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
She went to university to study law.
Law
Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
They were quick to go to law.
Law
An allowance of distance or time (a head start) given to a weaker (human or animal) competitor in a race, to make the race more fair.
Law
(aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
Normal law; alternate law; direct law
Law
(fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
Law
An oath sworn before a court, especially disclaiming a debt. wager of law", "wage one's law", "perform one's law", "lose one's law".}}
Law
(obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
Law
A hill.
Law
A score; share of expense; legal charge.
Law
(obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
Law
To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
Law
(nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
Law
(informal) To enforce the law.
Law
To subject to legal restrictions.
Law
(dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.
Law
In general, a rule of being or of conduct, established by an authority able to enforce its will; a controlling regulation; the mode or order according to which an agent or a power acts.
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made.
The law of thy God, and the law of the King.
As if they would confine the Interminable . . . Who made our laws to bind us, not himself.
His mind his kingdom, and his will his law.
Law
In morals: The will of God as the rule for the disposition and conduct of all responsible beings toward him and toward each other; a rule of living, conformable to righteousness; the rule of action as obligatory on the conscience or moral nature.
Law
The Jewish or Mosaic code, and that part of Scripture where it is written, in distinction from the gospel; hence, also, the Old Testament.
What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law . . . But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Law
An organic rule, as a constitution or charter, establishing and defining the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community.
Law
In philosophy and physics: A rule of being, operation, or change, so certain and constant that it is conceived of as imposed by the will of God or by some controlling authority; as, the law of gravitation; the laws of motion; the law heredity; the laws of thought; the laws of cause and effect; law of self-preservation.
Law
In mathematics: The rule according to which anything, as the change of value of a variable, or the value of the terms of a series, proceeds; mode or order of sequence.
Law
In arts, works, games, etc.: The rules of construction, or of procedure, conforming to the conditions of success; a principle, maxim; or usage; as, the laws of poetry, of architecture, of courtesy, or of whist.
Law
Collectively, the whole body of rules relating to one subject, or emanating from one source; - including usually the writings pertaining to them, and judicial proceedings under them; as, divine law; English law; Roman law; the law of real property; insurance law.
Law
Legal science; jurisprudence; the principles of equity; applied justice.
Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason.
Law is beneficence acting by rule.
And sovereign Law, that state's collected willO'er thrones and globes elate,Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.
Law
Trial by the laws of the land; judicial remedy; litigation; as, to go law.
When every case in law is right.
He found law dear and left it cheap.
Law
An oath, as in the presence of a court.
Law
An exclamation of mild surprise.
Law
Legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity;
There is a law against kidnapping
Law
The collection of rules imposed by authority;
Civilization presupposes respect for the law
The great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order
Law
A generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature;
The laws of thermodynamics
Law
A rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
Law
The learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system;
He studied law at Yale
Law
The force of policemen and officers;
The law came looking for him
Law
The branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do
Common Curiosities
How is a policy created?
Organizations develop policies through decision-making processes, often involving stakeholders.
Can a policy become a law?
Yes, if a policy gains sufficient support and is passed by a legislative body, it can be enacted as law.
What is the primary purpose of a law?
To regulate behavior and maintain order through enforceable rules.
Who enforces policies?
Policies are enforced by the management of an organization or entity that created them.
Can anyone create a policy?
While anyone can propose a policy, only entities with organizational structure usually formalize them.
How do governments use policies?
Governments use policies to guide administrative practices and public governance.
What happens if a law is broken?
Violations of law lead to legal sanctions such as fines or imprisonment.
Can laws change over time?
Yes, laws can be amended or repealed by legislative bodies.
What is an example of a law affecting daily life?
Traffic laws regulate the flow of vehicles and promote road safety.
How do policies affect employees?
Policies dictate the behavior and decisions of employees within an organization.
Why are policies important in the workplace?
They provide guidance and help maintain standards and procedures.
What role do courts play in relation to laws?
Courts interpret laws and ensure they are applied correctly.
Are policies legally binding?
Policies are not legally binding outside the organization, but they are mandatory within it.
What could happen if a policy is ignored in a workplace?
Ignoring a policy can lead to disciplinary actions or termination of employment.
What is the difference between a law and a regulation?
Laws are passed by legislatures, while regulations are detailed directives made under the authority of laws.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
